Selfish
by Bright Orange Ink
Summary: They all have some selfish emotions. But is it so bad to crave the full love and attention of a single person?
1. Shadows Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

**Selfish**

**Chapter One: Shadows Under the Cherry Blossom Tree**

Sakura buried her head into to knees, opening the floodgates. Her bloodshot eyes burned with saltwater as she let the tears loose. They spilled across her cheeks stained reddish pink from constant crying, trailing zigzag lines down her face. Her silvery pink hair was messy, hadn't been brushed for a few days. Sea foam green orbs were now rimmed scarlet, pitiful mixtures of hopelessness swirling in them.

Her arms hugged her knees to her breast, protective, trying to hide away her broken heart. Trying so hard to protect something fragile inside of her that had already been smashed into a million pieces she could not fit together anymore.

She didn't even know who she was anymore, she felt so empty without _him_. She should have stopped him, she wished he would turn back around and love her. Why couldn't he love her? Like she loved him? Why was he being so selfish… to go away even after she confessed straight up that she was in love with him. It was unfair, everything was unfair.

She closed her eyes, her body shivering slightly. She felt cold inside, she felt so empty inside. Without him, life seemed so… un-worthwhile. She sighed, dwelling on what their future could have been like, when her phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID. It was Naruto.

She felt herself tear up again. She let the machine take a message.

"_Hey Sakura. Haven't seen you in a while. I was just really worried about you. I was just wondering, if you felt like it, we could go out for ramen sometime? My treat…"_

_No mention of Sasuke. Just the normal warm hearted voice she always remembered. A small smile bloomed on her lips. Life seemed a lot more worthwhile now._


	2. Kitsune in the Cherry Blossom Petals

-1**Selfish**

**Chapter Two: Kitsune in the Cherry Blossom Petals**

Naruto sighed, poking at the cooling ramen noodles tastelessly. He wasn't very hungry today. He hadn't cried like his teammate. He hadn't even seen her in a while. But he had become much more quiet. He'd grown slightly paler, due to long hours cooped up in his apartment, thinking about the past and why the raven hadn't stayed with him and Sakura. The rosette had become very depressed.

He almost hated Sasuke for what he'd done to the girl. Almost wanted to rip the boy's heart and feed it to him. Almost, because if he hurt Sasuke, he'd hurt Sakura. His precious Sakura.

Naruto buried his scarred face in his hands, trying to keep the droplets from falling from his eyelashes. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong. For himself, for everyone. It was a giant burden, but he'd willingly take it if it meant Sakura could be free with her emotions. If she could freely cry. He'd take it then.

He wondered why she only thought about Sasuke, anyway. He was a cold, heartless bastard, who, in the end, had knocked her out and left her on a bench in the middle of the night. How could she cry over someone like that? Someone so heartless. Naruto felt his heart twist a little bit. The agony spread to his lungs, setting them ablaze. They scrunched up as he stopped breathing, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, trying desperately not to let the tears loose.

A hand touched his shoulder, he looked up. A beautiful angel stood there, gazing at him with bloodshot, sea foam green eyes. The pale scarlet was fading from them already, though. Her hair was choppy and short, but the silvery pink tresses that fell around her pale tan face were still beautiful. The sun made her outline glow, and in his state of surprise, the tears broke free, free to fall down the whiskers marks, and slide down to his chin.

She brushed it away, along with the other strays that he wasn't keeping secret any longer. It wasn't worth it anymore.

"Don't cry Naruto. It's gonna be alright. It's a promise of a lifetime."

Her voice was filled with sadness, but a small flame of hope burned in her tone, setting the kindling on his own soul. He was ready to try again, try to bring the raven back home to the love of his life, and maybe earn the same affections back.


	3. SunflowerScented Kitsune

-1**Selfish**

**Chapter Three: Sunflower-Scented Kitsune**

Hinata watched them eat ramen, or rather, poke at it with their chopsticks. Their talking was at a minimum, but she could see him staring at her, the softened expression, scarred with tear trails of pale scarlet, an expression of love. The heiress tried to keep from crying. After pining after him so long, she wanted to have him as her own. She wanted to hold him and have him hold her back. She tried to hate Sakura for slowly tugging that dream farther and farther away. She tried to, she tried so hard.

But she couldn't. Because Naruto loved her. And she couldn't hate anything Naruto loved. Because she loved _Naruto_. Oh, she loved him so much.

Her flaming lungs and aching heart watched as he uttered a weak joke, and she chuckled slightly at it. Her lavender eyes were filling with tears, her long, pale fingers were being buried into her short, indigo hair and pulling, ripping, until the tears finally flowed from the emotional and physical abuse. She sank to the ground face buried in her knees, still gripping the dark tresses, still trying to make herself cry. She wanted to be Sakura; beautiful and loud, gaining the attention of many, especially Naruto.

But she wasn't the prettiest…

And she wasn't the loudest…

And that was why Naruto would never love her. A soft cry emitted from her lips, not loud enough for them to hear. But loud enough to make her feel weak. Just like Father always said. She couldn't even beat her little sister in a spar, much less hold in a few tears because a boy didn't like her. It made her feel idiotic and stupid, but she wanted him so much. She felt she deserved that much.

She lived a life of sorrow. Her father didn't love her. Her cousin despised her. Her little sister looked down upon her. And the boy she was positively in love with didn't even notice her.

Why couldn't she stop crying?

What was so bad about losing one boy to a girl?

Hinata stood abruptly, her hands falling from her abused locks, a few midnight strands still wound loosely around her fingers. She turned, and disappeared. She ran down the streets of Konoha, dodging chipper shoppers. She sprinted into the park, twisting elegantly around young children, until she found a shady, secluded spot where she buried her face into her knees and began to sob loudly, drawing the attention of several people, who turned and ignored her.

And suddenly, she couldn't help but hate Sakura.

For taking her favorite goal away from her grasp, for making it impossible for Naruto to notice her. Her sobs became louder, and she was once again ripping at her dark hair.

A warm arm wrapped around her back and pulled her into a somewhat lithe chest, pillowed with a jacket. Her tear-hazy mind half hoped that it was Naruto. It was formulating a plan on how he had found her.

_He'd seen me run away from the place, and cut his conversation with Sakura short. Then he came after me. But I was so fast, trying to get away from them. I was already crying here in the park when he found me. So he decided he'd comfort me, ask me what was wrong. It would finally be my chance to tell him… that I loved him._

But is wasn't Naruto. It was her teammate, Kiba Inuzuka. He cradled her against his chest, trying to sooth the shattered fragments of her hopes and dreams, and especially her heart. He tried to calm the flames on her burning lungs. Disappointment was surging through her like the ocean's waves.

"Shh, Hinata, it will be okay. It'll be okay. Just try to calm down and tell me what's wrong…"

She took a deep, shaking breath. "I-I love him so much…"

"Yeah… I know. But with him breaking your heart, I'm sure you're breaking another's. You're loved, I know that much. It's not the end of the world."

Anger flared in her veins. Not the end of the world, but what about _hers?!_ Her heart was shattered beyond repair! But she threw water on the fury, he was only trying to help her. She closed her eyes, and clutched his jacket.

"I love him so much! I love him so much! I love him so much! I-I love him so much! I… I love him so much… I love you so much… I love you so much…"

She mumbled those words over and over, until her emotional breakdown took its toll, and she slowly dozed in his lap. Kiba never questioned why her eyes were closed when she was shouting about loving Naruto. He already knew. She loved him. And her sleepy mind turned him into the other boy. Hurt surged through him, but if he could grant her a forever to pretend, then he would, even at the cost of his heart.


	4. Wolf in the Sunflower Field

**Selfish**

**Chapter Four: Wolf in the Sunflower Field**

Kiba watched her train.

She was elegant and strong, traits he admired in a girl. He liked the way they clashed, but seemed to mix within her. She was beautiful, yet she didn't need to work for that beauty. She could only enhance it in the strangest of ways. She fought, sparred, actually. She trained.

Instead of flowers, the beautiful woman held kunai and shuriken. The sweat made her pale skin of her face and arms glisten. Her large, emotional lavender eyes held determination over all else. She was a dancer on the battle field. He admired her for this.

She had modeled herself after Naruto, but she held her own goals. She wanted to prove she was worth it, only in smaller steps. The blonde's goal: "Become Hokage, protect the village, protect all precious people." Simple. He held those in mind, and gathered and passed through all the steps on the way to get there.

Her goals were made up of steps she wanted to accomplish, until she was close enough to the goal to see it clearly. And she'd finish the puzzle quickly enough.

She was close enough to see her goal now:

"Prove to father you can take care of the clan."

He admired her. He liked her, he cared for her. He was pretty sure he loved her.

He didn't know what she saw in him, except for his ninja way. His determination to protect the village, and he had slowly realized why she loved him. The blonde was crude and weird, but he had a pure soul, to want to prove to and protect the people who had hurt him so badly. She realized why she loved him.

But she based her entire being on one person. A friendly obsession, you could call it. She loved another.

No matter what, Kiba knew Hinata loved Naruto. He was almost ready to except that.

_(Oh. My. Gawd. This is my first finished multi-chapter story. Thanks to the person who reviewed it. ) You gave me the inspiration to continue this story.)_


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